Alhaji Masawudu Osman, popularly known as Chairman Buga and the New Patriotic Party’s current Third Vice-Chairman, has thrown down the gauntlet in the race for the party’s vice-chairmanship positions, insisting that delegates should reward sacrifice and groundwork over financial muscle.
Speaking on the Bluewaves Breakfast Show ahead of the NPP’s national elections, Buga clarified that under the party’s constitution, all 13 candidates are contesting a single race. There is no separate ballot for first, second or third vice-chairman, the final vote tally alone will determine the ranking.
He described the contest as fierce and sleepless, framed along two possible lines: one driven by money spent to court delegates, and the other by hard work, sacrifice and dedication to the party.
Buga was candid about his rivals’ financial advantage. Many of the other candidates have held powerful, well-resourced roles, some as ministers for up to eight years, others as CEOs, deputy ministers or board chairmen, giving them far greater capacity to spend. “If the race comes down to money, I am at a disadvantage,” he acknowledged.
But if the contest turns on work and sacrifice, he argued he has no equal. He pointed to 2024, a turbulent period for the party when, he claimed, many of his current rivals were nowhere to be found, not communicating, not defending the party, and not selling its record to the public. By contrast, he said he remained active on the ground throughout the difficult stretch.
Buga went further, claiming that his own efforts helped make the vice-chairmanship position attractive in the first place. “Intellectuals” who once would not have imagined contesting for it are now in the race, he said, because of the visibility and value he helped create.
He also cited a moment of institutional gap: when the party chairman was inactive, the first vice-chairman was traveling and the second was unavailable, he stepped in as third vice-chairman to personally chair a national council meeting, evidence, in his view, of reliability and commitment.
Rejecting the common warning to “fear the delegates,” Buga said he trusts them instead. He believes they will recognise and reward visible hard work rather than simply follow money. Delegates are due to vote on 3 October at the party’s national conference in Kumasi.
As proof of engagement, he noted that his current stop was his 13th region toured, remaining visits to the Northern, Oti and Volta regions, among others. He framed the tour not as vote-begging but as accountability, reporting back to delegates on his record.
His closing pitch was simple: the delegates already know who he is and what he has sacrificed. “My work is not sold in the room,” he said. It has been public and visible, and he is confident it will be rewarded on election day.
By Gayheart Abraham
Source: Mybluewavesonline.com/Maurice Duncan/Bolgatanga
